High school, drugs, and rock n' roll
by Skitch
Summary: Mel is the new girl in town, she has a bit of an attitude problem, a bit of a drug problem, a bit of a vandalizeation problem, and a bit of a problem with problems. and she doesn't play hockey.
1. Hockey pucks hurt

Have you ever been hit by a hockey puck before? Let me tell you it hurts. A fire shoots through you like there is no end. It burns, it stings, throbs and aches all at the same time. It's like being kicked in the ribs. By a horse. It's like having your heart ripped out and handed to your neighbor. It's like… well. It hurts. We'll just leave it at that.

***************************

I trudged down the hall of the dorms at Eden hall Academy. I carried a large duffel over my shoulder and a boom box in my left hand. I shifted my bag and cursed my mother for dropping me off at my new boarding school without even saying goodbye before running off with her new boyfriend. I cursed her again and again for "moving on" so quickly. Dad had died 3 months ago of a heart attack. No one really knew how it happened, but I was sure my mother had told him she was cheating. I hated her even more now as all this thinking made me even more angry. She even made me leave my guitar at home. "what will you play?" she asked. "music" I replied. "but when?" I left it at that. I asked her if I could take the lap top. "what will you use it for?" she asked. "typing" I replied. But she still didn't let me take it. I asked if I could bring my drum set. "what will you do with it?" she asked. "make loud annoying sounds." I replied. Needless to say she didn't let me bring that either. I cursed under my breath and set my bag down to get my key out for when I found my room.

Something zinged over my head and hit the wall behind me with a loud crash. Startled, I stood up and turned to see what had made the awful racket. At that instant something with the force of a thousand rockets hit me in the stomach making me feel the burning, throbbing, aching pain that is a hockey puck. I took a sharp shallow breath and clutched my stomach before another puck glanced off the side of the hall, leaving a black rubber mark on the white paint before zipping past my leg.

"what are you trying to do? Kill me?" I tried to yell as I bit back the pain. The puck had hit my last rib on the left side.

Three boys rounded the corner. One was slightly mouse faced with blonde hair and brown eyes, his hair was all combed over and looked Jelled. I basically wrote him off as one of the snob's I'd seen everywhere else. He was wearing a jersey with the number 99 on it. He was the same height of the second one who had shaggy brown hair, dark eyes, thick eyebrows, a round face and an optimistic look. His jersey had number 96 on it. The third was the shortest, but still taller than I was with an oval face, dark skin and interesting looking hair that looked like he had been electrocuted by a spark plug or something. Each had a hockey stick in their hands. 

They all rushed up when they saw me standing there grasping my midriff. They all started to apologize profusely.

"I'll be fine." Or at least that's what I was telling my self.

"Y'want help with your bags?" Number 99 asked, picking up my duffel as number 96 grabbed the boom box.

"Do I have a choice?" I asked.

"not really." The third boy stated, picking up the hockey pucks laying along the hallway.  All three insisted on escorting me to my room.

"so, what're all of your names?" I asked as we walked.

"Adam." 99 said.

"Charlie." 96 put in.

"Jesse." The third boy added.

I nodded. "I'm Mel." 

"Mel?" Jesse asked.

"Melissa." I replied as we turned down another corner. "here." They stopped as I jammed the key into the hole of room 359. I turned it slowly and it clicked. I pushed open the door to reveal a bland white room with two beds underneath two windows with a dresser between them. A small refrigerator sat on top of the dresser and two mirrors attached to the walls on either side of that. Closets were along the right side of the wall and a desk was behind the door. The bed spreads were bland along with the rest of the room and it made me sigh. I stepped in and collapsed into the desk chair as Adam put my duffel on the bed as Charlie put the boom box on top of the dresser. "So do you guys always hit hockey pucks at the new kids?"

Jesse leaned against the door way while Charlie sat on the bed and Adam leaned against his stick. "no…" Adam started.

"Hey, we're sorry about that. No one's usually in the halls, and we just wanted to see how far down they'd go." Charlie explained.

"You sure you're alright?" Adam asked. 

"Yeah, I'll be fine." I replied.

"Which puck hit ya?" Jesse asked.

"What do you mean?" I queried.

"We only shot three pucks. Which one hit ya?" He asked again.

"The second." I replied.

Charlie cringed. "Ouch. Jesse, you really have to lay off those crackers man." I took it from what he said that it was Jesse's puck that hit me.

"Nice shot." I smiled at Jesse who, in turn, smiled back.

"Where are you from?" Adam asked.

"Madison, Wisconsin." I replied.

At that moment a round curly haired boy ran by, did a double take, and appeared in the doorway. "C'mon guys!" he turned and looked at me and stopped talking. "Hello there…" He said as if he were trying to make a move. 

"GOLDBERG!" Jesse hit the new comer on the back of the head.

"What'd I say?" Goldberg asked as if he had done nothing wrong.

Adam and Charlie rolled their eyes. "lets go guys, practice." Charlie said, turning. Jesse followed, dragging Goldberg off by his pant loop. I stood to wave them goodbye, but Adam stopped before exiting.

"you sure you're alright?" he asked.

"I think I'll be fine." I tried to reassured him.

"Jesse hits hard." He said. "where'd it hit?"

"My rib." I replied.

"Show it too me." He said. I raised an eyebrow. "show it to me." He repeated.

I lifted the edge of my superman tee-shirt to show the forming bruise on my side.  He touched it lightly and I cringed. "uh. Ow." I said, sarcastic like. I gave him a look that made him pull back.

"Sorry." He apologized, He wasn't starting to look like such a snob anymore. "You should get that looked at." He said just as a blonde appeared in the door. 

"Adam! C'mon! Coach'll throw a fit!" She walked in, grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away with no regard to me. I watched them walk down the hall and shook my head. The lady at the front desk had told me I'd be the only girl in my room and that the dorms were co-ed… for some reason or another. I flopped onto my bed and moaned. A pain shot through my side again. I took a deep breath and it hurt too. I sighed. 'It'll be alright in a few days' I told myself before sitting up and pulling clothes out of my pack. I grabbed my underwear and stuffed it into a drawer before dumping my clothes onto another bed and spreading them around the room. 

"more homey already." I smiled. I pulled out a poster of my favorite band and placed it on the wall, fixing it with my ever present duct tape. I turned on some music and before I knew it I had pictures up everywhere, posters, and bumper stickers plastered to the back of the door. I glanced at the clock and it was 5pm. Dinner to be exact. I stuffed some pens in the pockets of my super wide leg jeans and grabbed a note book. It was something I carried with me everywhere. I walked down the hall and into the cafeteria. It was the biggest cafeteria I had ever seen. 

I got in line for food and loaded it with the only things that looked edible. An Orange, a donut, and a bowl of soup. After paying I stood staring at the endless tables of eating teenagers. There were obvious "cliques" of people as you may call them. There were the cheerleaders, and the Jocks across from them. The snobs, the nerds. And my personal favorite_(yeah right)_, the dead heads. I rolled my eyes. There didn't seem to be anyone worth sitting with really. I started to walk forward to an empty seat at the end of the hall and tripped, over what, I don't know. But My tray flew into the air and the orange landed on the ground, where another kid with a full tray stepped on it and tripped, sending food everywhere. My soup landed on the head of a buff looking boy with curly brown hair and a leather jacket. He stood and turned as I cringed. 

"Is this yours?" He asked taking the bowl from his head and handing it to me as I nodded.

I took it slowly. "Sorry." I said. 

"You bettah be sorry…" he was starting to get in my face as a brown haired boy ran up to stop him. I recognized him as Charlie.

"Hey Portman, lay off, she's new." Charlie said as the boy backed off and sat down again. Charlie turned to me. "Hey Mel. There's an empty seat by Adam if ya want it." He said pointing across the table to a vacancy between a brown haired girl and Adam. I smiled and went around to take it. "Hey everyone, This is Mel, Mel, JV Hockey team." 

I was greeted by a bunch of Hi's and Heyya's from the team and the boy I dumped soup on even smiled at me. I shrugged. Boys are just weird. The brown haired girl next to me introduced herself as Connie and the blonde next to her was Guy.

"You play hockey?" She asked. I shook my head. "You don't know what you're missing." She said before turning back to Guy.

"so, is everyone on JV this friendly?" I asked Adam.

"you could say that…"  Adam shrugged. I opened my notebook and started to describe as thoroughly as possible everything that had happened in the recent past.


	2. A trip to the city

*****I forgot to put a disclaimer on the first chapter… Mel belongs to me. but I don't care if you steal her. I don't own anything else. but I wish I did********

I awoke the next morning and sighed. It was 6:45, earlier than I had woken up in weeks… but then again, I never went to my first two classes at my old school.  I pulled on a pair of gray camouflage pants and a slightly tight black tank top with sleeves that were tied at the shoulders and slits cut in the stomach.  I brushed the blonde curls out of my face and tied them into two very messy buns with strands sticking out everywhere. I grabbed a few of my multicolored hair extensions and stuffed them in odd places leaving bursts of pink, green, orange, and blue flaring out.     I laced up my boots and grabbed my shoulder pack before heading out the door. It was about 7:30 and to the best of my knowledge classes started at 8:00. 

I walked into the cafeteria and grabbed a bagel and a bowl of lucky charms.  I moved away from the line and headed to where I sat the night before. Portman whistled at me.

"Lookin' hot babe." He said. I glared at him.

"It's the Mel mister, lookin' fine." Said a curly red head with glasses.

"Shuddup…" I started, I didn't know his name.

"Averman." Goldberg supplied.

"Shuddup Averman."  Everyone laughed and I shrugged. I didn't think there was anything that funny about it, but who knows.  I filled my face with lucky charms and grabbed my bagel to stuff in my bag. A boy with a cowboy hat on sat next to me.

"Howdy, I'm Dwayne." He said with an accent that was just dripping with Texan.

"Mel." I replied starting to stand.

"What's the rush, Mel?" Dwayne asked.

"It's 7:50, and classes start in ten minutes. I need enough time to get myself properly lost." I explained. 

"That ain't hard to do. Five minutes'll give ya enough time." He grinned. 

"Thanks for the offer Dwayne. But I'd prefer to get as lost as I possibly can. I've got science next." I said. I walked away and down the hall to where  I promptly found the science room. "that worked real well…" I grumbled and filed into a seat. I opened a notebook and lost myself in the pages of my writing. 

"Hey dweeb. That's my seat." It didn't register that someone may have been talking to me. I looked up.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Get out of my seat!" Obviously the tall jock guy in front of me with a letter jacket on was trying to intimidate me.

"I don't see  your name on it anywhere." I retorted.

"Varsity gets priority here."  He glared.

"Shove off, skank." I glared right back.

He picked up my books and papers and chucked them across the room. "What do you think of that, slut?" 

I stood up, sending my chair back, making a mere desk between me and my offender. "Don't call me slut, bitch." I had daggers in my eyes, last time someone had called me a slut I got expelled from school.

He shoved the desk out of the way, "I'll call you whatever I want, little girl." I frowned, I may have been short but I was pretty sure I could pack a punch if I felt like it, I pushed him slightly.

"You want a piece of me?" I asked, staring him down. "huh? You want it? Come get it." I said pushing him continuously. 

"Riley! What's going on here?" A teacher had just walked into the room.

"Oh, nothing Mr. Shwan, the new kid here was just trying to start something." Riley, the boy I was fighting with said as if it were all my fault.

"Young lady, gather your things. You're going to the principals office." Mr. Shwan told me. I gathered my notebooks and things that had scattered across the room . _Great _ I thought, _school hasn't even started yet and I'm in trouble. This is going to be a loooong year. _ I put everything in my shoulder bag and headed out the hall. 

I trudged the lonely trudge that every high schooler makes when they get in trouble. I went to the desk of the office where the secretary told me to wait. I sat in a chair  and twirled a piece of my hair between my fingers as I waited for the principal's door to open and reveal the doom that awaited me. 

"The principal will see you now." The secretary stated. I gave her a questioning look. From what I saw she had no way to tell if he was ready or not. I trudged into the principals office.

"Mr. Shwan tells me you've disrupted his class." The principal said.

"Yeah, well, That Jock started it." I retorted.

"I'm disappointed in you, Mrs. Delaney.  Classes haven't even started yet and you've been fighting." He started to tsk. "now, I want you to stay away from varsity and clean up, or even your mother's hefty sum can't keep you here."  He shook his head. "I'll let this one slide… but if this happens again…"

"I'm toast. You don't have to tell me." I stood. "I shall be going, I've got important learning to get done." I headed for the door.

"Remember miss Delaney, Stay away from Varsity."  He said as I exited. I got a pass from the secretary and headed back to my science class which was about half over.  I walked in and sat in the same seat I had sat before and smiled to myself. _Those jocks are such dorks _I thought. I reached into my bag and pulled out a piece of bubble gum. I stuffed it in my mouth and smiled again. Riley was sitting in front of me. By the end of class he had a wonderful piece of pink goo in his hair. The biggest kick was watching him stumble aimlessly through the halls as people laughed at his pinkness, the rest of the day though wasn't so exciting. 

Lunch consisted of a sandwich and a glass of juice. Plus, nobody from JV was there so I ate alone.  I sat through my afternoon classes giving myself a tattoo around my bicep, it looked kind of like barbed wire meets a Celtic knot. I liked it rather much. Varsity hassled me a bit but I mainly stayed out of their way.  Then the bell rang. Thank the lord for that bell. After dropping my things in my room and found the nearest payphone and called up my cousin who supposedly had a friend I could get a cheep used guitar from. I dialed quickly.

"Hi, is Jed there?" I asked.

"What's the password?" A male voice on the other end asked.

"Dammit, Jed, it's me Mel. You know very well there's no friggin' password." I stated.

"Heyya Mel!" The voiced perked up. "How's it going at Prep's-ville USA?"

"Shuddup Jed. Where can I get this guitar/amp set for cheapo-mundo?" I pulled out a pen.

"Okay, My friend, Flame, can get you it for a hundred bucks, cash, tomorrow afternoon outside the Barbie store at the mall of America."  He told me.

"Yeah, right, what's the catch? Nobody would sell a 69 fender that low."  I said writing down the directions on my hand.

"Who said it was a fender?"

"You did, stupid." I sighed.

"Oh, I lied. It's a good guitar though…" He trailed off.

"Spit it out, Jed! What's the catch? Hmm? What do I gotta do to get this guitar/amp set? What?" I asked.

"Uh… I need a favor Mel."

"What kind of favor? If it's kinky, I ain't doing it." I said, negotiating with Jed was not one of my all time favorite things to do.

"Whoa, cuz, I wouldn't go that low…" _yeah right _"Anyway, it's just something small. Flame's heard you've got contacts…" _I knew what he was talking about, and I didn't want to get that mixed in it. _"You just gotta carry a little to a corner down town."

"Hey, look, I'm done with that shit now." I said. _Don't get mixed with drugs. _ I repeated to myself constantly.

"It's just a little… Ya carry a little more he'll consider sending the Fender…" The deal seemed too good to be true.

"He'll give me the Fender for a hundred bucks and a trip to the city? I'll meet you there tomorrow, at four." I hit my hand with my forehead. _This is not good. _ My inner monologue decided to tell me. _Shuddup. _I told it. A fender strat. The best guitar I could imagine, for a mere hundred smackers. 

Dinner. A time where we're all herded into one room like sheep. Forced to eat. And herded back out again. And then they call it structure. I hate structure. I grabbed a salad and sat at the table with JV hockey.

"So how was it?"  Connie asked me.

"What?" I replied.

"You're first day?"

I rolled my eyes. "Lets see… the forecast for the rest of the year will be…. Boring  And filled with trouble." I sighed and put my fork into my salad. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I tensed up. I turned my head slowly.

"Thanks for the hair ornament, girlie." I looked up. Riley was standing there.

"Anytime." I said with a pleasant smile.

His face got reddish as he tried to come up with something to say. "I've got connections, kid."

"Yeah? I don't really care, and If you'd step away from the table I can go on with my life and so can you, pinky." I said turning back to my food, I was suddenly aware of my plate moving away from me very quickly. I looked up as I was being dragged from the table and the JV team started to stand up.  

"look, girlie, we don't like your kind here." I had varsity closing in on me.

"Look, I don't want to have to hurt you guys." I started.

"Awww, we just want to play…" Said another.

They started to push me back and forth and when one pushed my shoulders I felt the pain in my side. It became hard to breathe again and my side started to hurt like it had when the puck had first hit. One of them grabbed me around the waist and I screamed. The pain was unbearable at that moment. Within seconds he let go and I realized JV was standing around me. Not varsity. 

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked, crouching next to me.

"Yeah… I'll be fine, my side it just hurts." I said and there seemed to be a sigh of relief.

"What happened?" A worried looking Adam rushed up. It was then that I noticed that he hadn't been there during the fight.

"Mel got in a fight with varsity." Guy commented.

"Go Mel!" Portman said. "She's the bash sister!" Portman and Fulton then proceeded to chest but. A concept that seemed incredibly stupid to me.

"Are you alright?" Adam asked me. 

"Yeah, it's just my ribs." I repeated. "Anyway, they just hit that bruise from the puck." I stood, and then clutched my side. "Ow!" I cringed. 

"You sure you're okay?" Connie asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I went back to the table where Portman carried over my chair and people started to sit down. Adam sat next to me.

"Look, I think you've broken your rib." He told me.

"What? No way." I shook my head.

"Hey, look, Mel. I think you need to see a doctor about your rib." He said.

"I do _not _need to see a doctor about anything." I told him taking a bite of my salad.

"Come on Mel, what do I have to do to get you to see something for that?"

"You can't do anything Adam. It'll go away on it's own in a few days." I grinned. "Well. You could let me do something with that hair." I reached up and ruffled it so it stuck up in all directions. "There. Much better."

He started to mat it down again. "What was that for?"

"You look like a snobby, mama's rich boy." I said with a smile.

****SORRY ABOUT THE CHANGE IN FONT!*****

****do me a favor, tell me what you think is going to happen next…****


	3. you wanna do something about that?

I couldn't wait to get out of my classes. It was just inventible. When the bell rang I don't even think I heard it, I was zoned, my guitar was all I could think of. When it finally registered there was nothing stopping me. I bolted, knocking everything and everyone out of my way as I ran to my dorm room. It was a matter of seconds before the fender was plugged into the amp and I turned up the volume. **BUMMMMMM** the cord rang out through the room, echoing off the walls. I closed my eyes as it resonated in my mind till every ounce and vibration of the note had left the room. I then went into a rendition of "Surf wax America" by Weezer.  I didn't sing any of it but I let the guitar rip through the solo and the cords as I jumped up and down rocking my body in time to the song. 

Bang, bang. Something knocked on my door. I just kept playing. Then it got louder and more persistent. I stopped, the vibe ruined, they couldn't even knock to the beat. 

"Fuck." I hissed out, shaking my head in disappointment. I walked to the door and opened it, disgusted that someone screwed my jam session with myself. "Did you just come to kill the vibe, or is there something else you'd like?" I asked, not caring who was there. 

The dean, a tall stiff looking man, he wore an expensive gray pressed suit and he stared down his nose at me, like I was scum. Worse than scum. Like I didn't deserve to be stared down at. There was a crowd of stuffy, snotty students standing behind him and Riley was there with a thick smirk across his face. "Young woman, I demand you show some respect." He scoffed. "And turn that ruckus down. The school condones the use of such…." He was flustered by my attitude and my volume. "Contrabands." He reached forward and grabbed the fret of the guitar.

I glared and ripped it from his hands. Adam rushed up towards the front of the crowd to watch but I didn't care. "This 'contraband' happens to be mine." I growled. 

"If you feel the need to have an instrument, you can play them in the music room or you can get a triangle. So turn it down." He flicked his chin up and I had half a mind to give him the finger, but I didn't. "I won't warn you again." He walked away in a hurried fashion, he wanted nothing to do with me or my "contrabands". The crowd dispersed with him.

I whirled, attempting to slam the door behind me but the friendly thud never came. I peeked over my shoulder to see Adam standing there.

"Surfwax America?" He asked with a grin.

I snorted. "So you know your Weezer." I lifted the guitar over my shoulder. "It pisses me off. This whole damn school pisses me off." I said as I put it back in it's case. "All I was looking for was some quality emo." I sighed. 

"Hey, a minute and a half of Surf wax is better than a year of N*sync" He shrugged.

"I guess you're right…" I sighed. This school just wasn't fair.

****************************

The rest of the  week went by quickly and I stood in the alley with the small package in my hand. The instructions said 7:30 and that a man in a black truck with a white baseball cap would pull up, there would be no talking simply the exchange of the box for an unmarked envelope. I waited. The wind shifted the hair on my head moving it in front of my face. I pulled it back slowly when the truck I was waiting for pulled up. He looked at me and I looked at him. It was a silent agreement of sorts, he held up his side of the bargain and slipped it through the window. I picked it up and tossed the cardboard box inside. There was nothing more to do. He sped off  and was out of site within minutes. Mission accomplished.

*****************************

Four weeks later I stepped out into the hallway as I stared down into my green notebook. I loved to write. It was my favorite pastime when I wasn't playing my guitar. I stopped suddenly and crossed out a line that I didn't like. That's when a nerdish brunette ran up to me. 

"Are you Melissa Delaney?" she asked. I nodded and looked her over. The nerdy look was doing well for her.

"Uh… yeah. But most call me Mel." I said.

"Well, I'm Jenna, the editor of the school newspaper. My friend said you're always writing and I was wondering if  you'd write a column for the next edition?" I stared at the speaker in surprise. Had she not heard that I had put bubblegum in the star of Varsity's hair? I had written for my last schools newspaper but they kicked me off when I wrote a particularly opionated editorial. Yeah. Detention for 3 weeks wasn't my thing. "Is that a yes or a no?" She asked.

"Well…can I get back to you on that?" I stated.

"Sure, but the next paper comes out in two weeks and we need all the articles by Monday. You can always add something for the article after that." She rambled.

"Yeah. Thanks." I said. "gotta run." I hustled down the hallway to my next class. For once I was on time. 

****************************

I sat in my room, restless. There was absolutely nothing to do. I couldn't play, I had nothing to write. I had recorded every thought from the past month under the most detail I could have. I clicked my pen against the notebook absently. That was the exact moment I decided to take a trip. To where I didn't know, but I figured I'd get on the first bus that went by and get off when it looked interesting. I grabbed $10 and went out the front gate of the school. I got on a bus. It wasn't a very nice bus, the driver was overweight and enjoyed his donuts way too much, which was evident from the powder and chocolate surrounding his mouth. I felt disgusted. I must have ridden that bus for half an hour before I came to where I ended up.

 It was a small park, children playing on the swings, a pond of a lake in the middle with a bridge across the middle. Ducks swam under the bridge. It was pleasant. Even better there was a band playing in the shelter. It wasn't punk, it wasn't rock, it definitely wasn't pop. It was hard to explain, but it was cool. I must have sat, one of 5 or 6 spectators in that shelter for hours. I didn't know what to think, except that these people were awesome. I asked them if they were looking for a second guitarist but they  had no need. It didn't matter to me though, I wasn't in need for a band just something to do. It was about 8 o'clock before I got back on a bus and it was about 9:30 by the time it pulled in front of Eden hell. Yes, Eden HELL. That was my new way of calling it.

I opened the gates slowly with a creak. Students weren't allowed out after 9 supposedly, but I figured if I didn't get caught it didn't matter. Two figures sat beneath a tree.  

"Where've you been?" Portman asked when I strolled toward him. He and Fulton were sitting under the tree looking bored out of their minds and beat like butter. 

"None of your concern." I told him flopping back onto the grass. "what the heck happened to you?" I queried of Fulton who had a black eye.

"Damn varsity. They always get their way." He shook his head.

"It's not fair." Portman looked down and out.

"It's like they own the school." Fulton sighed pulling a piece of grass from the ground. 

"You guys want to do something about that?" I asked, sly grin pulling at the corners of my mouth. The insane genius letting it self loose in my head. 


	4. Crime and Punishment

So it was on, right then and there Portman, Fulton and I made a pact. We wouldn't include anyone else and there would be no ratting of fellow participants to authorities and everything would be done in secrecy. It was perfect. 

I watched a red jag drive up the driveway that next morning as Fulton and I sat under the tree. By that time I was pretty sure I had missed science class. "that is a kick ass car…" I commented.

Fulton glanced up. "You wouldn't say that if you knew who owned it." He said pulling up some grass.

I looked at him as I shifted to lay on my side, plus here I could see the jag better. "What do you mean? Who owns it?"

"Riley." He replied coolly.

"oh." I said disappointed, then with a sudden thought of revelation my face suddenly was washed with joy. "Oooooh." The insane genius that had let itself into my system before was taking over. 

"what?" He asked, glancing over at me, but not smiling.

"You're going to get the supplies today right?" I asked sitting up excitedly.

"Yeah…." He answered hesitantly.

"When you go it's essential that you pick up shaving cream. And lots of it too." I smiled evilly. "I've got a plan for Riley's ride…" 

He simply nodded and went back to plucking grass. That's the moment a balding hall monitor shuffled out of the school towards us.

"You guys should be in class." He was a tall man, with a shiny bald cap. His steel blue eyes bore down on us with no respect. He was round in the edges and wore the mandatory green collar shirt all security guards were forced to wear and khakis.  

"eat turf…" Fulton mumbled incoherently.

"What was that young man?" Mr. Skinner, as his name tag bluntly pointed out, stated.

"nothing." I said, whacking Fulton in the side and then standing. "We'll be on our way." I glared at Fulton and dragged him to his feet. "C'mon, Let's go to class." He was reluctant and dragged behind, when we were finally within the halls of the school he stopped me.

"What the heck was that for? Now we have to go to class!" He wasn't too happy that we didn't run away from the monitor to skip even more school.

I whacked him upside the head and he glared at me. "Duh stupid! If we get detention _now_ we can't exactly get even with varsity _later_ now can we."

He grumbled and we went off to class.

***

The three of the pact stood under the tree. We were all smiling like idiots as Fulton opened the large plastic Walgreens bag. He flipped out cans of spray paint, shaving cream, molasses, silly string and things of the such. 

"Alright comrades…" I took a can of shaving cream "Operation get back is now…"

"Dontcha think we could call it something more interesting?" Portman asked as thoughtfully as his little mind seemed to be able to handle.

"Yeah! Like Operation desert storm…" Fulton grinned.

"Fine… We'll call it Operation destruction, how's that?" I asked with a sigh. They both nodded. "Okay, operation Destruction is now beginning. Portman, can you handle the horse?" I asked glancing around suspiciously. A light twinkled in his eyes that I had never seen before. "Good. Fulton, you start in the dorms, Portman, get the horse." I smiled evilly, "I've got a date with a red jag… meet you guys inside." I said shaking my can of shaving cream. We snuck away from the tree in crouched runs in opposite directions. 

As I approached the car a set of butterflies filled my stomach, nerves running me high on adrenaline. I popped the top off the can and tested it on the bumper, leaving two dots. I then set to work, drawing a giant smiley on the hood. Then I went to the dirty work, writing what some may consider naughty on the sides. I smiled widely as I scrawled JACKASS across the back so that any tailgater would know who they're following. When I was done I stepped back from my destruction and smiled widely it was perfect.

I dropped the can as I ran away not looking back as I shuffled into the dormitory. I glanced around as I tiptoed down the hall. I creaked open a door and snuck in, I almost laughed at how loud the inhabitants were snoring and was quite happy that they weren't about to wake up. Fulton gave me a thumbs up as he shut a sock drawer, presumably so that when they opened it silly string would shoot out at them. I grabbed some spray paint and colored the walls with a "VARSITY SUCKS" message. Within an hour we were out of there leaving molasses'd shoes and messages everywhere. Portman left the horse in Riley's room and then we went to bed. 

I don't think any of us got much sleep that night considering at 6am we heard screams and the pounding of feet. I smiled to myself and rose. Today was a good day, a very good day. Or… that's what I thought it was going to be. I dressed for the best in my favorite slashed tee shirt and blue camo baggy pants and bright orange tennis shoes. I left my room and clicked the lock with my key and smugly walked from the door. 

I caught up with the bash brothers down the hall and greeted them with a closed fist shake. The next thing we heard was the worst blood curdling scream. I imagined how it would have been in the movies, the camera taking a wide shot of the school, then town, then country, and world, the scream only growing slightly deafer at each second. I held my breath to keep from laughing, but it wasn't enough as we all burst into soft snickers. I bit my lip as I saw the twinkle in Fulton's eye as we all tried to stand inconspicuously to the side as faculty rushed by. 

"I bet Riley found his car…" I pondered, a bright smile dashed across my face.

"What did you do to it?" Fulton asked staring at me, wondering what could cause a scream that intense.

"Well… Shaving cream takes the paint off of cars…." I stated thoughtfully.

"You WHAT?" Portman excitedly exclaimed staring at me. I simply nodded. "Well… I gotta hand it to ya…" He said with a shrug.

I wrapped an arm around each of my buddies. "C'mon." I started down the hall, "Breakfast is on me."

***

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" The dean slammed his hand upon the desk causing the three of us to jump. 

I squeezed my forearm, a nervous habit of mine. "W-Well…" I started, stuttering as I stared down into my lap biting my lip in thought. 

"I don't even want to know…" the old, balding man said shaking his head as he leaned his fists on the desk, stepping back slightly and then leaning into them giving us a lovely view of his bald spot. He sighed and ran a hand over his eyes. "Don't think you're getting away with this." He said harshly, glaring at each of us. "You will pay for this, don't think you won't." He started pacing back and forth, "Yes… yes…" he mumbled to himself. "You will pay off any damage."

"WHAT?" Portman exclaimed. 

Fulton stared up at the authority figure in disbelief, "We ain't got any money!"

"Well, you should have thought about that _BEFORE_ you pulled this." The dean shot back ruthlessly. "You'll work in the cafeteria until the end of the school year." He charged. "You'll pay for every cent of damage. And you'll repaint all the rooms you defaced." He paused "I hope that you'll learn some responsibility for your actions." He turned and glared at me, "Miss Delaney, You'll also pick up trash every Saturday. Mr. Skinner places you at the scene of Riley's car. You will also apologize to Riley and the rest of Varsity. I also want a three page paper on the remorse you must feel."

"But, sir!" I called out in an exasperated tone.

"No, Miss Delaney, I want no word from you. You've done enough." He put his hand in our faces and stared off behind him, like he couldn't look at the Filth sitting before him. "Now go." He shooed us with his hand flicking the dirt from his office. "I don't want to see you."

I grumbled as we left. "That's not FAIR!" I slammed my foot down in the hallway and sunk into a bench. 

"Why'd they do that to us? It ain't fair." Portman sighed. 

"Hey, you're not forced to pick up trash." I glared.

"At least we didn't get kicked off the team…" Fulton put his hands to his head.

I snorted, "Yeah, well you guys have scholarships. I could get kicked out at any moment." I shook my head in disgust. "It just ain't fair."

"You said it…" Portman nodded in agreement. 

****Flames? Comments? Sorry it took so long… bits of inspiration escaped me.****


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